WORLD TRADE WT/L/664 4 December 2006 ORGANIZATION (06-5786) General Council Original: English 14-15 December 2006 CANADA - TARIFF TREATMENT FOR COMMONWEALTH CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES 2006 Report of the Government of Canada on the Trade-Related Provisions of CARIBCAN The following communication, dated 27 November 2006, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Canada. _______________ Introduction CARIBCAN is an economic and trade development assistance program for the Commonwealth Caribbean countries and territories established as a result of a commitment by Canada at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Nassau in October 1985. The objectives of CARIBCAN are to enhance Commonwealth Caribbean trade and export earnings, improve the trade and economic development prospects of the region, promote new investment opportunities, and encourage enhanced economic integration and co-operation. The main feature of CARIBCAN is the unilateral extension by Canada, beginning on 15 June 1986, of duty-free access to the Canadian market for most commodities originating in Commonwealth Caribbean countries. On 28 November 1986, a decision by the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) waived until 15 June 1998, the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 1 of the General Agreement, "only to the extent necessary to permit the Government of Canada to provide duty-free treatment to eligible imports of Commonwealth Caribbean countries benefiting from the provisions of CARIBCAN, without being required to extend the same duty-free treatment to like products of any other contracting party" (L/6102). On 14 October 1996, the WTO extended the CARIBCAN waiver until 31 December 2006. (WT/L/185). The conditions associated with the CARIBCAN waiver remain unchanged. This report is being made in accordance with paragraph 3 of the WTO waiver of 14 October 1996 and Article IX of the WTO Agreement. Country Coverage The Customs Tariff lists 18 countries or dependent territories which are eligible to receive the duty-free benefits accorded under CARIBCAN: Anguilla, Antigua-Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. No additions or deletions from this list have occurred since CARIBCAN was enacted on 15 June 1986. WT/L/664 Page 2 Product Coverage There have been no amendments to CARIBCAN product coverage since the changes made in February 1998. Today, product exclusions from the duty-free provisions of CARIBCAN are: - Goods of HS Chapters 50 to 65 inclusive; - Goods covered by tariff items with “over access commitment” rates of duty established in the “tariffication” process. Rules of Origin The rules of origin for the purposes of the Commonwealth Caribbean Countries Tariff (CCCT) treatment are set out in regulations enacted pursuant to Section 24 of the Customs Tariff . To qualify for the duty-free treatment accorded to Commonwealth Caribbean countries, at least 60 per cent of the ex-factory price of the goods as packed for shipment to Canada must originate in one or more beneficiary countries or Canada. The 60 per cent qualifying content may be cumulated from various CARIBCAN beneficiary countries or Canada. The goods must be finished in the beneficiary country in the form in which they are imported into Canada. Pursuant to the Proof of Origin Regulations, either a duly completed Certificate of Origin, Form A, or a written statement of origin signed by the exporter, must be presented to Customs at the time of release, accounting or refund. Trade under CARIBCAN Canada-CARIBCAN trade statistics are annexed in a series of tables to this report and include 2005 trade data. In general, these trade statistics indicate that: - In 2005, Can$869.4 million or 98 per cent of total Canadian imports from CARIBCAN beneficiaries entered Canada free of duty. As shown in Annex III, Can$746.7 million of this trade entered under MFN free rates while Can$5.7 million entered duty-free under General Preferential Tariff (GPT). Can$116.9 million of this trade entered under the preferential CARIBCAN tariff (CCCT). Annex IV shows the top 25 commodity imports benefiting from the CARIBCAN preference. - Total Canada-CARIBCAN trade (exports plus imports) has grown from Can$776.5 million in 1995 to Can$1.5 billion in 2005. The value of Canadian imports from the region has risen from Can$448 million in 1995 to Can$890.6 million in 2005. The value of Canadian exports to CARIBCAN countries has risen from Can$329 million in 1995 to Can$571 million in 2005. WT/L/664 Page 3 Statistical Annexes: Annex I: Total Imports form CARIBCAN Beneficiaries 1995 - 2005 Annex II: Total Canadian exports to CARIBCAN Beneficiaries 1995 - 2005 Annex III: 2005 Imports from CARIBCAN Beneficiaries by Tariff Treatment Annex IV: Top 25 Merchandise Imports from CARIBCAN Beneficiaries which entered Canada under the CARIBCAN Duty-Free Tariff Treatment (CCCT) in 2005 Page Page WT/ Total Canadian Imports from CARIBCAN Beneficiaries 1995 – 2005 Annex I (thousands of Canadian dollars) Country 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Anguilla - 11 41 7 8 9 10 13 8 27 145 Antigua - Barbuda 389 1,857 1,256 2,698 402 10,380 340 954 748 579 558 Bahamas 16,715 23,432 8,056 22,002 25,959 14,003 13,785 16,941 48,149 55,652 56,816 Barbados 16,990 15,703 13,736 11,722 10,652 7,375 9,118 7,543 6,282 8,508 7,368 Belize 11,688 7,953 12,737 8,263 14,027 9,868 3,739 6,381 4,501 8,325 9,651 Bermuda 4,173 2,317 3,751 7,602 19,689 17,614 2,369 3,803 1,655 12,511 17,738 British Virgin Islands 91 1,299 199 615 614 1,376 1,324 501 1,146 1,785 2,699 Cayman Islands 638 1,968 624 1,070 654 522 27,571 3,818 2,242 1,108 441 Dominica 2,381 1,180 1,390 1,910 1,642 1,698 775 944 358 313 775 Grenada 639 559 1,112 1,067 1,602 1,523 1,037 1,476 1,082 1,259 944 Guyana 171,208 204,033 203,375 203,107 192,020 197,800 209,474 225,368 201,099 197,704 147,206 Jamaica 199,952 239,135 257,507 256,384 201,074 197,727 324,783 270,927 264,871 346,608 393,028 Montserrat 18 203 341 28 248 94 113 267 453 238 104 St. Lucia 1,222 1,602 1,287 1,595 580 1,413 237 411 266 366 512 St. Christopher (Kitts) and Nevis 2,937 2,958 4,426 4,494 5,120 4,399 6,121 7,458 8,722 8,185 7,868 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 183 138 137 200 152 404 310 619 124 123 125 Trinidad & Tobago 18,469 46,599 26,215 34,157 73,688 72,327 195,141 166,7 04 232,921 156,281 237,073 Turks & Caicos Islands 17 93 338 686 1,823 1,647 1,007 2,347 7,980 6,871 7,525 Total: 447,890 551,046 536,630 557,608 549,954 540,178 797,254 716,475 782,607 806,443 890,576 Source : Statistics Canada. Notes : A dash (-) indicates that an amount is nil or negligible. Total Canadian Exports to CARIBCAN Beneficiaries 1995-2005 Annex II (thousands of Canadian dollars) Country 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Anguilla 548 588 881 1,007 673 651 2,802 1,301 802 1,215 1,559 Antigua - Barbuda 6,160 28,133 9,384 8,492 11,402 10,727 10,434 7,970 17,273 15,534 14,968 Bahamas 15,231 19,292 21,610 24,513 26,301 26,018 27,706 33,245 28,883 30,392 59,949 Barbados 31,554 35,872 37,193 36,396 41,087 33,783 29,104 33,629 41,979 44,769 55,729 Belize 4,232 2,586 9,847 3,760 3,332 2,598 3,505 5,079 5,271 5,425 6,347 Bermuda 34,302 33,453 39,177 40,165 42,973 34,540 34,715 107,599 42,945 59,301 66,405 British Virgin Islands 1,381 898 3,417 2,628 28,743 60,187 2,240 2,167 2,129 2,637 2,786 Cayman Islands 11,490 7,281 1,369 12,266 8,127 8,286 63,858 6,807 7,671 10,738 22,374 Dominica 1,891 2,238 1,840 3,236 5,560 4,436 2,671 2,614 7,668 4,967 4,585 Grenada 3,789 4,649 3,321 4,901 4,839 4,023 3,142 4,450 5,868 6,056 6,956 Guyana 8,144 11,171 10,671 9,968 14,655 8,073 8,068 10,373 9,536 10,603 15,330 Jamaica 96,645 90,784 86,937 98,032 96,699 99,815 121,933 158,212 124,650 163,755 144,312 Montserrat 128 185 149 81 83 289 214 291 300 434 510 St. Lucia 12,521 5,426 8,729 11,493 12,524 9,683 7,375 7,804 7,423 8,059 7,020 St. Christopher (Kitts) and Nevis 2,498 2,560 2,011 5,675 10,646 9,633 16,147 27,036 12,059 3,982 5,380 St.